Louis joseph lecocq



L. J. LECOCQ.

Car Coupling.

No. 79,664. Patented July], 1868.

ni'trh tetra gaunt ffirr.

LOUIS JOSEPH LECOGQ, OF ARGENTEU-IL, FRANCE.

Letters Patent No. 79,664, dated July 7, 1868.

IMPROVED OAR-GOUPLING.

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that IYLOUIS JOSEPII LEGoeo, of Argen'teuil, of the departement Seine et Oise, in the Empire of France, have invented-certainmew and useful Improvements in Car-Couplings, which may also be used for attaching other carriages together on railroads and elsewhere; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and eXactdescript-ion thereof.

I will proceed to describewhat I consider the best means of carrying out'my invention, and willafterwsrds designate the points which I believe to be new therein. 7

The accompanying drawings form a part of this specification.

Figure is a side view of the male part, with a "longitudinal sectionof the parts of the female part which come in contact therewith. v

Figure 2 is an elevation of the female partand its connections partly in section.

Figure 3 is a section through these parts in a reversed position.

All these show the parts adjusted-for locking.

7 Figure 3 is a view of a part of themechanisin whnadjusted for disconnecting'or unlocking.

Figure 4 shows the locking-bolt and its lever difl'erently constructed, so as toobtain the same end by a movement of the lever G in a plane across instead of lengthwise of thecar.

Figure 5 showsa modification. of the mode of opening the eyes.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts or corresponding parts in all the'figurcs.

Tints are employed merely to aid in distinguishing parts, and do not imply difierenoes of material.

The material of all the novelparts may be iron and steel. The bodies of the cars may be wood Referring to figs. 1, 2, and 3, the device is composed as follows: l

First. A male part on one carriage, ands. female part on the other carriage; the male part being bevelled, and the female flared, to adapt them to connect more easily, and the male part being mortised to allow a lockingbolt to enter.

Second. A locking-bolt carried near thefem'ale part, and adaptedto enter and cross it, so as to take in the mortise in the male part, and hold it strongly, when'r'equireiwith means for operating said bolt.

Third. Divided eyes for the safety-chains, capable of opening to liberate the chains, with connections therefrom to the locking-bolt, so that the movement-ot' the latter to open the coupling and'rele'ase the male part will also open the eyes and release the chains.

A is the body of one car, andA is the body of the other. B is the malepart of the coupling,-attac hed tov the car A". It is mortised or perforated, as indicated by b. C is the female part of the houpling. llt is fi xed in the car A which latter carries all the moving parts of the mechanism to which I attachjmportanc-e.

D is the transverse or locking-bolt. It slides in the housing E, which is provided with anti-friction rolls 0, to facilitate the movements of the enclosed bolt D.

G is a bent lever, turning on the fixed centre 9, and taking hold of the pin a" on the end of the bolt D, by

embracing it in a long hole, as shown, so that it may operate the slide or bolt D without moving it to the front or rear. The other end of the hent levei Gr may be worked by the hand, either applied directly or through any suitable mechanism. This handle may be'pressed constantly in onefdirection'ihy'a snitable spring, or by' gravity,

' or other forcefii' desireil, and, in such case, the force of the hand is only necessary to operate it in the opposite direction; but the hand must, in such case, be appliedyvith suflicient force to ovel'come theresistance of the bolt D, and also of the spring or gravity. I'preferthe employment of a spring in the manner represented, so that it shall serve to hold the lever G and consequently the bolt D in either position, according as it is set by the hand or otherwise in such position. i H

, H is the spring, and h is a belt, which holds it. Its free end'is. enlarged, and provided with a V-shaped surface or knife-edge, which presses against or near a corner or angle, 9, of the lever G, as plainly'shown in fig. 3. So long as the bolt G is down in the position shown,the spring H tends to hold; there. It will yield to allow the bevelled end of the'male part B to' lift under the bevelled end of the bolt D, when the cars or car-- riages are forced together to be coupled or connected, and will still act in the same direction, and immediately depress the bolt D and lock the cars firmly; but when, by the force'ot' the hand applied to the free end of the lever G, the lever is turned .a little further than the motion just described, the angle g passes'the knife-edge on the spring H, and then the spring immediately acts to hold the bolt D up. In this condition the cars may be thrown together with any force desired, without causing the couplings to connect. In short, my spring H, as arranged relativelyto the other parts, makes thecoupling capable of being transformed, by a single movement of the hand applied to a convenient handle, G,i'rom a self-acting coupling to one which is not self-acting, and, by an equally simple movement in the opposite direction, it may be transformed. back again.

In the condition indicated in figs. 2 and 3, it is a self-acting coupling; in the condition indicated in fig. :3, it is not. I

I I is a stout hook, with the point downward, which forms the upper half of an eye to hold the safetywhains K. There are two of these safety-chains, one on each side of the coupling, but only one is represented. These chains extend from one car to the other, to holdthe cars together imcase of accident to the coupling. The lower half ofthe eye is-formed by the lever J, which is hinged atj, and is connected at its opposite end to the locking. bolt D by two connections L, one on each side of the bolt. These connections are secured to the sides of the bolt by pins Z, which, as the-bolt moves up and down in the housing E, traverse in slots provided as represented.

The coupling having been joined, as described, and the safety-chains attached to the eyes I J by hooks, as usual, they serve, as usual, so long as desired; but, when it is desired to disconnect the cars, it is not necessary to unhook the safety-chains, becausethe movement of the lever G, to raise the bolt D and release the coupling, at the same time opens the eyes I J by lowering the lower part, and, at the same instant that the male part B is releasedfrom its locking-bolt D, the chains K are released, and the cars are entirely disconnected.

Some parts of my invention may be used without other parts, though with less advantage, and various modifications of the construction may be devised, which will be somewhat effective. Some modifications or improvements will, perhaps, be made by others, based on my original invention, or some part thereof herein described. I do not wish to confine my claim to the details arranged precisely as herein shown.

I have shown two modifications in figs. 4 and 5, which seem to me to possess some merit.

In fig. 4, the lever G takes hold of and operates the bolt D as in figs. 2 and 3, except that it works in different plane. In fig. 5, the lever moves to and from the eye of the observer, while in figs. 2 and 3 it works to the right and'left.

In fig. 5, the eye is opened and closed by raising and lowering the bolt D, not represented, being in this respect the same as that above described; but the fixed part of the eye is not a hook, and the part which is opened and closed is not a lever. The fixed'part' is in the form of two brackets, I I and the lever, operated as in fig. 2, raises and lowers the hook-shaped bolt J to confine and release the safety-chains. The efi'ect of both these modifications is nearly the same as the construction before described.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim. as new therein, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is as follows: 7

1. I claim the parts B and C, and the locking-bolt D, the spring H, and angle 5 on the bearing-part G, all constructed, combined, and operated substantially as described, as and for the purposes specified.

2. I claim the compound eyes IJ, connected to and opened and closed by themotion of the locking-bolt D of the coupling, so as to confinethc safety-chains K so long as the coupling is connected, and to liberate the safety-chains simultaneously with the attachment of the coupling, substantially as andfor the purposes herein specified. i

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my name in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

L. LECOCQ.

Witnesses:

A. SIMONNEF, G. BARRAL. 

